I received a beautiful knife from Big Chris a couple weeks ago, and wanted to share some of my initial thoughts. Two disclaimers: One this review is far from scientific and reproducible. This is not the intent, and for that I leave it to the masters like Ankerson. Two I have some experience with high carbide alloys, including a k390 spyderco mule, a bunch of s110v and s90v, as well as a Phil Wilson bow river in k294. I am looking to add some other A11 soon, all for the sake of testing, right? That said, I am far from experienced (and even farther from expert). Take everything I say with a grain of salt.
So some pics to start us off
This is a scrapper pattern, about 5.25 inch blade. 0.156 thick, heat treated to about 63.5 Rc. Fit and finish are extremely well done, and balance is just about perfect. These partial tang blades are really growing on me. I give up the dream of batonning through a redwood forest with an edc/hiking knife, but gain great slicing with excellent balance and feel.
For those unfamiliar with s125v, it has a (well-deserved) reputation for being a difficult steel to work with. In the annealed state, it is extremely brittle and so it is clad in 304 stainless. Evidently the sheets are wavy and uneven as well since it is difficult to roll. What I have heard is that an A11 knife takes about three times more time and belts to grind that an s35vn/cpm154/XHP knife. And s125v takes another two to three times more time and belts than an A11. In the same time and material costs (belts), a maker can grind almost nine blades in very respectable steel, or one blade in s125v. Again, this is all hearsay, but it makes sense since very few knifemakers are willing to use s125v.
With that said Cmon guys. Make more!!!:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
I really love this stuff.
To describe it, I would say the knife is a bit bipolar. When cutting on cardboard, it is smooth and glides right through. When cutting on rope, it is a bit more aggressive than s90v and bites really well. Smooth and toothy? Disclaimer three sorry if you are bipolar. I am not saying you are either smooth or toothy.
I only bought a couple feet of 5/8 inch manila rope, but cutting was very easy. Geometry helps, and Big Chris did a great job on the grind despite starting with relatively thick stock. Due to the scarcity of s125v, I believe this was the only thickness available. Frankly, I rarely cut rope. I also dont hunt, so my knives dont usually need to cut through hide and grit.
I do shop on Amazon a lot (or rather, my wife does). And I get to cut lots and lots of boxes. I had a bunch of shipping/display cartons from Costco that are thicker than the usual brown corrugated cardboard. The s125v really sailed through them. I was cutting slices with very little effort. I know that Jim Ankerson will routinely slice through a mile of cardboard while testing some A11. I definitely do not have his stamina or wrist strength. My back of the napkin calculation was about a quarter mile though (9 inch cuts x 1500 cuts = 13500 inches or 1125 feet). Okay, maybe a fifth of a mile
Through it, the edge held up beautifully. No appreciable wear, and smooth cuts through paper along the entire blade afterwards. One thing I did notice after cutting hard and fast for a few minutes, the blade was pretty hot. Not hot enough to affect temper or burn skin but slightly uncomfortable to hold onto for more than a few seconds. The spine of the blade by the handle was still cool to the touch. I assume this was the friction of the cardboard on the blade? I have never noticed this before, so I interpret it as an indication of how quickly it has to slice through cardboard to generate some heat. Or that it was pushing 100 degrees today .
I am about done with my yammering. I will say that Big Chris does a great job with his grinds and his finish, and I will be looking to try many more. And his heat treat seems spot on! I am not sure of how to push this knife to the limits without pushing myself beyond the limits first. Will this out-cut k390 or 10v? Probably, but I will frankly never know. But the feel of it just awesome. Smooth as butter. Toothy butter. I will see how long it lasts before needing to be touched up and/or sharpened.
You gotta get you some of this. Its that good!
So some pics to start us off
This is a scrapper pattern, about 5.25 inch blade. 0.156 thick, heat treated to about 63.5 Rc. Fit and finish are extremely well done, and balance is just about perfect. These partial tang blades are really growing on me. I give up the dream of batonning through a redwood forest with an edc/hiking knife, but gain great slicing with excellent balance and feel.
For those unfamiliar with s125v, it has a (well-deserved) reputation for being a difficult steel to work with. In the annealed state, it is extremely brittle and so it is clad in 304 stainless. Evidently the sheets are wavy and uneven as well since it is difficult to roll. What I have heard is that an A11 knife takes about three times more time and belts to grind that an s35vn/cpm154/XHP knife. And s125v takes another two to three times more time and belts than an A11. In the same time and material costs (belts), a maker can grind almost nine blades in very respectable steel, or one blade in s125v. Again, this is all hearsay, but it makes sense since very few knifemakers are willing to use s125v.
With that said Cmon guys. Make more!!!:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
I really love this stuff.
To describe it, I would say the knife is a bit bipolar. When cutting on cardboard, it is smooth and glides right through. When cutting on rope, it is a bit more aggressive than s90v and bites really well. Smooth and toothy? Disclaimer three sorry if you are bipolar. I am not saying you are either smooth or toothy.
I only bought a couple feet of 5/8 inch manila rope, but cutting was very easy. Geometry helps, and Big Chris did a great job on the grind despite starting with relatively thick stock. Due to the scarcity of s125v, I believe this was the only thickness available. Frankly, I rarely cut rope. I also dont hunt, so my knives dont usually need to cut through hide and grit.
I do shop on Amazon a lot (or rather, my wife does). And I get to cut lots and lots of boxes. I had a bunch of shipping/display cartons from Costco that are thicker than the usual brown corrugated cardboard. The s125v really sailed through them. I was cutting slices with very little effort. I know that Jim Ankerson will routinely slice through a mile of cardboard while testing some A11. I definitely do not have his stamina or wrist strength. My back of the napkin calculation was about a quarter mile though (9 inch cuts x 1500 cuts = 13500 inches or 1125 feet). Okay, maybe a fifth of a mile
Through it, the edge held up beautifully. No appreciable wear, and smooth cuts through paper along the entire blade afterwards. One thing I did notice after cutting hard and fast for a few minutes, the blade was pretty hot. Not hot enough to affect temper or burn skin but slightly uncomfortable to hold onto for more than a few seconds. The spine of the blade by the handle was still cool to the touch. I assume this was the friction of the cardboard on the blade? I have never noticed this before, so I interpret it as an indication of how quickly it has to slice through cardboard to generate some heat. Or that it was pushing 100 degrees today .
I am about done with my yammering. I will say that Big Chris does a great job with his grinds and his finish, and I will be looking to try many more. And his heat treat seems spot on! I am not sure of how to push this knife to the limits without pushing myself beyond the limits first. Will this out-cut k390 or 10v? Probably, but I will frankly never know. But the feel of it just awesome. Smooth as butter. Toothy butter. I will see how long it lasts before needing to be touched up and/or sharpened.
You gotta get you some of this. Its that good!
